Munich Gesellschaftsraum

[Marc]

Recommended it here just based on hearsay: www.der-gesellschaftsraum.de
Now I have been. My comment to the staff: who needs Ferran (Adria) if you are around …

I mean, not molecular and no star like chichi, but very inventive tasteful food (see menu) served from attentive staff in pleasant environment at reasonable prices.

[Behemoth]

Went yesterday. Great atmosphere. Service was a bit disorganized to say the least (sometimes 45 minutes between courses(!) but the staff was charming enough to make up for it. Basically it looks like a white tablecloth restaurant designed, owned and run by a bunch of art school friends.

Really excellent wine recommendations, especially given the difficulty of matching wine to this sort of menu.

As for the food, it was good...though for the price level I would say there are better (though admittedly squarer) places in town. The menu is ambitious and charming in an enthusiastic way but if I'm not mistaken everything is coming out of that tiny kitchen, with one chef, and I think they have a hard time achieving their goals.

My main criticisms are 1) that there are a lot of things going on in each plate. Often too many, and it doesn't allow any one ingredient to stand out. And this relates to criticism number 2) that there was not enough of a difference in taste and texture across the courses. Possibly because so many things were put into each dish that they all tasted kind of similar by the end. I sort of wish the dishes were pared down a little and simplified. It would be easier for the kitchen to get things out in time, and it would make the courses more distinct. All you need is one or two really strong ideas in a dish, four or five is just too much.

Fun place though, and again the waitstaff are really wonderful despite the inefficiencies. It will be interesting to see how it develops.

How long have they been around? Did I get it right, that they existed in a smaller form and recently expanded?

[Marc]

Glad you enjoyed at least somehow.
I guess the place exists since spring 2008 and it is not an expansion but has been opened by former members of the team from ess 9 - http://www.essneun.com/

[glbtrtr]

Can you please give some examples of Euro dining prices current now in Munich - I am watching the dollar go up in value to the euro and wonder how much differnce this might make in our Munich dining experiences in a few more weeks. US dollar now about $1.20 to one Euro - last time through it was closer to $1.48. to $1.60 if my memory serves me well.

What does a beer cost, what does a pizza cost, what does a beer garden meal cost, what do appetizers, entrees, etc cost typically -knowing of course it varies all over the map depending on the restaurants. But for the "average" tourist who will be going to typically "tourist" places, what are some "typical" prices? Thanks.

[Marc]

You are right – the value of the US$ increased by around 25% since early 2008.

Beer prices vary from € 6,20 to 7,80 for the liter, avg is 6,99 – based on an April 08 survey.
Coke ( 0,2 l) between 2,2 and 2,7.
Details: http://www.charivari.de/images/pdf/pdf_080509_bierpreis_gaststaetten_muenchen_2008.pdf

Standard wine by the glass will be 3,5 to 5,5 (0,2l) but can be 12 as well (Falk´s Bar)

For the Bavarian benchmark Schweinsbraten you should expect 7 to 10 €, at typical Weißes Bräuhaus (Schneiderweisse, THE typical Munich restaurant) you pay 6,8 – see their reference menu which gives a good average overview: http://www.weissesbrauhaus.de/speisek...

Pizza should be 7 to 14, depending from the place and the topping. With truffle-topping it can be € 60 (Käfer). ToGo maybe 4 Euro.

And there is still the yellow arches option with daily specials for 1 €.

But do not forget: in general you get what you pay for.

[glbtrtr]

Thanks for the prices marc. Nope, the Golden Arches will definitely not be one of our dining stops. We eagerly look forward to the local fare - potatoes, sausages, pork --- yum!

Also can one get smaller portions of beer than the liter. I recall in Switzerland ordering "ein klein glas bier" and getting a lady-size portion. I hate to pay for the liter sizes if this is too much for me and there are no alternatives. I also read if you order weisse bier you can get a smaller size, but it also has a higher alcohol content so that doesn't do it either.

Thanks again. I have a book on all the various Munich beer gardens that includes song lyrics for some of the more traditional drinking songs --- do they still get sung in beer halls today?

[Behemoth]

You can get a 0,5 liter pretty much everywhere except at some biergartens. Many places will also sell you a .33 liter "kleines", though you will occasionally get some guff for it. Since said guff is usually in Bavarian I can barely understand it let alone feel insulted by it ;-) I'm a lightweight but a half liter of helles is pretty manageable.

[glbtrtr]

In German, what does one ask for to get this half liter size? How about a few handy phrases when ordering that even us English speakers can manage to get out. What are the rituals to show some manners and politeness when ordering. Thanks. Danke.

[Marc]

1. Weissbier has a slightly lower alcohol content ( around 5%) than regular beer (5 to 6 %)
2. Standard size in most places is 0,5 l. Only if you see everbody around having 1 l (for example Hofbräuhaus) you should be alerted.
3. In normal places you order "ein Bier" and get 0,5, If everybody else has the big stone, you order "ein kleines Bier" oder "eine Halbe"

[Behemoth]

Hey thanks for the tip. We walked by the place a few weeks ago and wondered what it was. Totally forgot to look it up once we got home, of course. High on the list now.

[girobike]

Hey Marc,

Danke für den Tipp!

My wife and I will definitely try it next weekend.

[Marc]

Please report back when you visited!

Unfortunately the menu does not sho up readable. Here a link for the menu: http://www.siewesan.de/menu.htm

[girobike]

I was really surprised how good the English was on the menu. Best translation I've seen from a Munich restaurant!

Thanks for putting it online.

I will be sure to give a review.